


Sunday

by Syenya



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Friendship/Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8168629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syenya/pseuds/Syenya
Summary: His Sunday routine has been disrupted anyway by his friend’s absence.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [Imported from LiveJournal](http://syenyayenyen.livejournal.com/10144.html)

 

 

 

 

At 7AM, the light in Lu Han’s apartment is pale and tentative, seeping through his windows as the sun rises over the bay of San Francisco. Lu Han trots, barefoot, across the cold linoleum floor of his kitchen, pulling a jumper over the holey t-shirt he sleeps in, a woollen knitted hat fitted over his greasy, tangled bed-hair.

The air in the kitchen is cold enough for thick clouds to form over the kettle as the water boils.  
The city woke up hours ago, but for Lu Han, the day is just beginning. As the kettle bubbles and pops, he starts his morning with English Breakfast; a simple tea for simple mornings, and Lu Han likes the bright red of the box it comes in.

He splashes in milk and watches the cloud swirl and spread, overtaking the clear liquid of the previously black tea.  
It’s too cold to open the balcony door, but he stands behind it, with the mug clasped in his stiff fingers, and watches the colour of the sky change above the distant bay.

 *

Lu Han arrives at the bubble tea store at 11:08AM and gets into line. It feels strange to be standing in silence, because this is the first Sunday that Sehun has been away in Chicago. Lu Han considers buying something other than his regular taro bubble tea, since his Sunday routine has been disrupted anyway by his friend’s absence. But by the time the cue is stretched behind rather than in front of him, he still hasn’t made up his mind, so when the cashier smiles knowingly through her bangs at him and asks “Taro?” he replies, “Yes, please.”

The morning chill has faded now as the hour melts into afternoon. Lu Han sits on the side of the boulevard, chewing lazily on tapioca. He begins to imagine the conversation he would be having with Sehun, as though it is just a cancelled rehearsal, and he has to read out the other boy’s lines. But it’s lonely so he pulls out his phone instead.

_Let’s have dinner :)_

The reply arrives before Lu Han’s tea is gone.

_Tonight? Okay (^^)_

 *

Ling’s is a bustling restaurant, and as evening settles on the bay, it is full of light and life and laughter. Lu Han’s hand is resting on Yixing’s back as they walk inside and greet the waiter in Mandarin. There is always a table available for Lu Han and Yixing.

The air is full of equal parts American and Mandarin, each with their distinctive twang, though the words are a blur. Lu Han and Yixing relish the taste of the homeland and the shape of the mothertongue in their mouths. The evening’s tea is a cheap but authentic jasmine, watery at the start and bitter at the end. Lu Han scalds his lip and Yixing laughs, but reaches over the table to pat his shoulder and check that he’s alright.

Yixing drinks almost two pots alone and has to leave for the bathroom halfway through the meal.

“Don’t steal my food while I’m gone.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Luhan’s smile is sweet and innocent and honest and Yixing has known him for too long to be reassured.

Yixing sighs, resigned to the food being as good as gone already, and weaves away through the crowded restaurant. Lu Han’s chopsticks are at the ready in his slender fingers, poised to strike as soon as Yixing is out of sight.

 

 

“Lu _Han_.”

“Hm?”

“You didn’t even leave me any char siu,”

“You snooze, you lose,” Lu Han grins around suspiciously large cheeks. “You piss, you miss.”

Yixing glares and nibbles petulantly on a decorative slice of carrot.

 *

“How is life without Sehun, then?” Yixing asks.

Lu Han pouts. He is supposed to be a 24-year-old man. Yixing laughs at his face and his pout deepens. “Lonely, I guess?” he replies.

“You have me,” Yixing points out, beaming radiantly. Lu Han rolls his eyes and it is Yixing’s turn to pout, stretching out a leg to poke him in the chest with a sock-clad toe.

They are seated on the futons laid out on Lu Han’s bedroom floor ( _“Why do you need_ two _futons?” — “I need room to spread, Yixing.” — “You’re a dumbass, Lulu.” — “You love me.”_ ). There are pots of tea sitting on the floor, one with green and one with black, half obscured by the edges of blankets, just waiting to be knocked over by, say, a foot clumsily extending to kick someone’s friend in the chest. But Lu Han and Yixing are familiar with this setup — they’ve been like this so many times before — and know how to avoid accidentally drenching futons with tea.

Yixing refills with green tea.

“You know where the bathroom is, yeah?”

“Shut _up,_ Lu Han.”

Yixing glances at Lu Han’s clock and begins to stand. “It’s late, and I have work tomorrow…”

Lu Han quickly, carefully puts down his black tea and grabs Yixing’s sleeve. “I’ll drive you,” he says.

Yixing pauses for a moment, face caught in a half-smile; looks down at Lu Han, at the half-full teapots, at the wrinkled blankets on the two futons, and sits back down. “Alright.”

*

 

4:06AM From: Sehun  
_Yixing~ good morning princess!! I just woke up ^^; did you sleep well? <3_

4:07AM From: Sehun  
_Ah crap, forgot about the time difference! What is it there, like, 4am?_

4:07AM From: Sehun  
_Sorry~ keep sleeping haha_

4:29AM From: Sehun  
_I miss you (^^;)_

4:44AM From: Sehun  
_Take care of Lulu Han until I get back, yeah? Love you <3_

 

 

 


End file.
